"Half an hour ago."
Sun Ling also reacted at once and said with an ugly expression, "Didn't we agree that you would check the surrounding situation, and he and I would go ahead to the two villages to scout? But there was no one in the two villages. I wanted to look more closely, so I let him come back first."
Bai Shengyi pondered for a moment.
Now she and Sun Ling each had fifteen Spirit Mansion keys. Among the seeds, this was definitely a lot. Sun Ling should not be lying, so the question now was whether Sun Chongyang's sudden disappearance was because he encountered something on the way back or because he left voluntarily?
Although the Spirit Mansions in the Sanghai Secret Realm could elevate the cultivation of seeds, they were not omnipotent. Not to mention the danger of qi deviation every time they were infused with spiritual energy, the further along it got, the more limited the spiritual energy's ability to raise cultivation became.
Even Bai Shengyi herself had only just entered the fourth layer of the Golden Core, reaching the threshold of the middle Golden Core stage. Sun Ling was only at the second layer of the Golden Core.
"Shengyi, what do we do now?" Unconsciously, Sun Ling had already made Bai Shengyi's decision paramount.
Bai Shengyi said calmly, "Don't panic. As we've come this far, if Sun Chongyang wanted to make a move, he would have done so long ago. Now..."
Before Bai Shengyi could finish speaking, a gust of hurricane suddenly swept across the grassland, blowing both Bai Shengyi and Sun Ling away!
"Master!"
Qing Meng Vine had recovered as usual after more than half a year of recuperation. Seeing this, the vine hurriedly entwined Bai Shengyi.
Bai Shengyi immediately threw out a vine from her hand and said to Sun Ling, "Hold on!"
The hurricane swirled like it was about to tear the two of them apart.
To stabilize itself, Qing Meng Vine instinctively rooted itself into the ground, but the next moment, it sensed something was wrong.
"Master! The wind is coming from underground. There's something wrong underground!"
"What?" Bai Shengyi couldn't help but be stunned for a moment. How could the wind come from underground?
She didn't delay and immediately circulated the power of Xing Luo Di Huan, trying to glimpse the true face of the peaceful grassland. However, the Xing Luo Di Huan, which had always been effective, encountered a Waterloo on this simple and unadorned grassland!
In Bai Shengyi's eyes, the vast green grassland was lush and verdant, and there was nothing unusual.
But in this situation, the absence of anything unusual was the biggest abnormality.
The wind grew stronger and stronger. Sun Ling was tossed around, and Bai Shengyi's hand was almost torn off, but she dared not relax. Because in this environment, once she let go, she didn't know where the two of them would be separated.
But Sun Ling was about to give up.
"Shengyi! Just let me go!" Sun Ling said painfully. She felt like she was about to be shaved into dried jerky by this hurricane!
In such a short period, her face, hands, and legs were all covered in wounds cut by wind blades. The key was that she had a premonition that as the wind grew stronger, the wind blades might eventually be able to cut off her flesh.
Soon, Sun Ling's premonition came true.
"Ah!" Sun Ling let out a cry of pain. The sound of the wind passed through her arm, taking away a piece of flesh from her arm.
This was just the beginning! In just a moment, more winds swept over, circling around the two of them like blades!
"Mmmph..." Bai Shengyi grunted, and in a moment of carelessness, a piece of flesh was also shaved off by the wind.
The pain of skin and flesh splitting caused her wrist to instinctively twitch. Her grip loosened slightly, and Sun Ling, sensing this, voluntarily let go.
"Shengyi, I'll see you later!"
The wind howled, and in a short while, Sun Ling disappeared.
Bai Shengyi had no time to worry about Sun Ling, because she found that her cultivation was declining.
Yes, declining!
The fourth layer of the Golden Core, the third layer of the Golden Core... the ninth layer of the Foundation Establishment, the eighth layer of the Foundation Establishment... Soon, it became the Qi Refining stage, but her cultivation continued to change until it stopped at the level of an ordinary person.
As for Bai Shengyi's Qing Meng Vine, it had withered long ago when Bai Shengyi was in the Qi Refining stage, only managing to say "Master" before disappearing from the spot.
The tiny ordinary person was no match for the earth-shattering commotion. With just a casual gust of wind, Bai Shengyi was blown away and rolled on the ground.
Before her consciousness faded, Bai Shengyi only managed to hear the panicked voice of the Samsara Pen.
"Master!"
Bai Shengyi suddenly woke up.
Due to long-standing habits, she immediately observed her surroundings and looked around vigilantly, only to find that the sound of the wind was gone. The ground she was standing on was like a deep blue mirror, reflecting an unfamiliar face.
"Is this me?"
Bai Shengyi opened her mouth, and the person in the mirror also opened her mouth. "She" looked to be in her forties, with a few strands of messy hair hanging around her ears, looking as withered as a flower that had lost its vitality.
"It's you, Master."
A somewhat familiar voice sounded. Bai Shengyi looked up and saw a snow-white long-eared rabbit squatting in front of her.
Seeing her look over, the long-eared rabbit showed a well-behaved smile, "Master, you're finally awake. If you don't wake up, Lord Black Snake will eat us all."
"Lord Black Snake?"
The long-eared rabbit: "Yes, Master, don't you remember? According to Lord Black Snake's instructions, you also have to give him two pieces of meat today. Master, are you ready?"
The red eyes darted around, and the long-eared rabbit repeated the last sentence with a slightly eerie tone.
"Master, are you ready?"
At the word "ready," the white rabbit, which had been docile and well-behaved, suddenly pushed its hind legs, revealing two sharp front teeth, and bit towards Bai Shengyi's arm.
"Today, I'll take the meat from you, Master! The meat here is the most firm, and I believe Lord Black Snake will like it very much."
The long-eared rabbit grinned and then bit down fiercely!
"Get lost!"
Bai Shengyi let out a cold shout and kicked out, almost stumbling herself.
But as her body swayed slightly, the long-eared rabbit missed its bite.
Bai Shengyi gained a brief respite. She then discovered that her body was like a rag doll, with many scars and wounds. And her legs—
"Hiss—" Bai Shengyi gasped.
Inside the empty pant leg were two straight, bare white bones!
Damn it!
Even with Bai Shengyi's strong will, seeing her legs in such a state sent a shiver down her spine.
What kind of illusion was this? Why was it so creepy?
Yes, Bai Shengyi realized when she woke up that this was another illusion.
Perhaps because the Sanghai Secret Realm was related to time and space, various natural illusions emerged endlessly. Bai Shengyi and the others had encountered no less than ten in the past six months.
But none of them had given Bai Shengyi such a real sense of fear. This fear was not only from the visual impact but more importantly, because the content revealed by the white rabbit and the actual situation made a conjecture surface in Bai Shengyi's mind.
At this moment, failing in its attack, the long-eared rabbit charged again.
Bai Shengyi steadied herself and focused on dealing with the rabbit.
Her legs were rendered useless, so she could only resist with her hands. Without spiritual power now, she was equivalent to an ordinary person, so it was very difficult to deal with the long-eared rabbit. In the end, at the cost of injuring one hand, she managed to catch the long-eared rabbit.
"Master! What are you doing? Your mission is to protect our long-eared rabbit tribe. Are you going to betray your promise?"
The long-eared rabbit's voice was sharp and piercing.
"If you don't offer your flesh, then go lay eggs for Lord Black Snake. Otherwise, Lord Black Snake will not let our long-eared rabbit tribe go!"